Hermetically-sealed jar.



No. 649,843. Patented May l5, I900. W. H. HUNISS.

HERMETICALLY SEALED JAR.

(Application filed Aug. 17, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet (Q Mariel.)

Inven 1507" M/mm s as No. 649,843. Patented May l5, I900. W. H. HONISS.

HERMETICALLY SEALED JAR.

(Application filed Aug. 17, 1899) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (No Model.)

I n19 emf/0r Zl/btnass as 2M. 7M.

THE Noam: PETERS co. Pnoruumu. WASHINGYO WILLIAM II. IIONISS, OFHARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF THREE- FOURTIIS TO VILLIAM A. LORENZ,OF SAME PLACE, AND BARTLETT ARKETJJ, OF CANAJOHARIE, NElV YORK.

HERM ETlCALLY SEALED JAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 649,843, dated May 15,1900.

Serial No. 727,5964 (N model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. HONISS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and

a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHerinetieally-Sealed Jars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in hermeticallysealed jars orcans of the class most commonly employed for the preservation of foodand of other materials which are liable to deterioration ordecomposition by contact with air.

Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings represent an embodiment of thisinvention in its simplest form. Fig. 1 is a plan view of the jar. Fig. 2is a side view in section, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, of a jar andits gasket and cap, showing the latter in their expanding position orthat occupied by them during the process of expelling or exhausting theair from the interior of the jar. Fig. 3 is a side view similar to thatof Fig. 2, excepting that the cap and the gasket are here moved to theirsealing position, with the gasket below the air-ducts. Figs. a, 5, and 6represent a modified form of this improved jar, in which the air-duetsare in the form of grooves in the 0 neck of the jar, extending downpastthe seat occupied by the gasket when in its exhaust ing position. Fig.4. is a plan view of the jar and the gasket, the latter being in theuncompressed position occupied by it in Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a side view insection, taken on the line 5 6 of Fig. 4:, showing the cap and gasketresting upon their highest or air-exhausting seat of the jar. Fig. 6 isaviewsimilar to that of Fig. 5, excepting that the cap and the gas ketare here shown in their sealing position upon the lower gasket-seat ofthe jar.

Jars of this class are ordinarily sealed by means of an annular gasket,of rubber or sin1ilar yielding material, which is seated in an annulargroove extending around the neck of the jar, the gasket remainingpermanently in this seat. To seal the jars, the gaskets are compressedby means of a metallic cap having a smooth flaring rim which is presseddown upon the outside of the gasket after the air within the jar hasbeen expelled either by cooking the contents of the jar or by exhaustingthe air therefrom by an apparatus suited to this purpose. The externalatmospheric pressure upon the cap is then suflicient 5 5 to keep thegasket permanently compressed; but during the operation of sealing thejars spring-clamps and other pressing devices have hitherto beenemployed to hold the caps in contact with the gaskets, so as to preventthe caps from being displaced by handling or by the subsequent action ofthe air within the jar during its expulsion or exhaustion there" from,as well as to prevent the readmission of the air to the interior of thejar at the completion of the exhausting operation and until thepermanent external pressure takes place. The smooth surfaces of themetallic rim and of the jar-neck form unbroken belts of contact with thegasket, and thereby impede the escape of air from the interior of thejar past the gasket during the operation of expelling or exhausting theair, which therefore can only escape by lifting the cap from the gasketor by forcing its way between them. The spring-clamps above referred toresist this lifting action, the result being that at the conclusion ofthe exhausting operation the degree of vacuum within the jar is lessthan that outside by an extent proportional to and determined by thepressure of the spring clamps. Furthermore, unless the pressure exertedby these clamps is exactly uniform around the circle of the rim theescaping air will lift that portion or side thereof which yields mostreadily, thus allowing the opposite side to be crowded further down,thereby tending to permanently tilt the cap. This tilting of the caps isobjectionable both for appearance and for the more important reao sonthat When sealed in this inclined position the ring or belt of contactbetween the circular gasket and the conical rim of the cap is not acircle, but is approximately an ellipse, which does not conformaccurately to the cir- 9 5 cular form of the neck of the jar, and therefore does not compress the gasket uniformly at all portions thereof. Thepresent invention obviates these difficulties and dispenses with thespring-clamps by providing the neck of the jar with two different seatsfor the gasket, the latter resting upon one of these seats during theexhausting operation and upon the other seat when finally sealed. Theinterval between these two seats is provided with one or more air-ductswhich communicate with the interior of the jar either by extendingthrough the wall of the jar or across and under the first or uppermostseat for the gasket, thereby allowing the air to pass freely out of thejar through the ducts during the exhausting operation; At the conclusionof that operation the cap is pressed down to the position shown in Figs.3 and 6, so as to carry the gasket upon or below the air ducts to itssecond or sealing seat, which is of larger diameter than the first, soas to compress the gasket outwardly against its seat in the cap, whichis thereafter retained in its sealing position by the externalatmospheric pressure, as in the former practice.

The jar 8 of Figs. 1, 2, and 3, which otherwise may be of the usualform, is provided adjacent to its mouth with an annular seat 9 for thegasket 10 during the air expelling or exhausting operation, and it isthereby designated as the exhausting-seat. The sealing-seat 11 islocated below the exhaustingseat, and between these two seats is locatedan air-duct or a series of air-ducts 12, which in the embodiment of theinvention shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 consist of perforations extendingdirectly through the wall of the jar to the interior thereof. The necksof the jars herein shown are also employed as a means for compressingthe gasket against the cap, and the sealing-seat is therefore of asuitably-enlarged diameter. The exhausting Seat 9 for use in connectionwith an uncompressed gasket should be depressed in the form of anannular groove extending around the neck of the jar, as herein shown, soas to confine the uncompressed gasket to its seat during the exhaustingoperation and also to insure that it shall occupy a level position withrelation to the jar, or, in other words, to locate the gasket in a planesubstantially at right angles to the longitudinal center of the jar. Thecap 13, which is preferably of metal, is provided with an annular seat14 for locating the cap upon the gasket, the seat underlying the lowerside of the gasket and forming a substantially-continuous shoulder toprevent inadvertent upward displacement and overlying the upper side ofthe gasket far enough to insure that the latter shall be positivelycarried with the cap from the exhausting-seat 9 to the sealing-seat 11when the cap is pressed down from the position of Fig. 2 to that of Fig.3.

In the modified embodiment of this invention shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6the jar 18 is provided with the exhausting-seat 19 and thesealing-seat20, similar in form and location to the corresponding seats9 and 11 of the jars 8 of Figs. 1, 2, and 3. In this modification,however, the air-ducts 21 consist of one or more grooves which extendbeneath and across the exhausting-seat 19 from the space between the twoseats 19 and 20, thereby forming free passages for the airfrom theinterior of the jar past the gasket when the latter is upon itsexhausting-seat, as shown in Fig. 5. The gasket 22 and the cap 23employed with this form of air-duct may obviously be, as herein shown,exactly like those of Figs. 2 and 3.

The air-ducts and the seats for the gaskets may be formed when the jaris molded without any additional labor or expense over that attendingthe manufacture of the present forms of glass jars. In the case of cansmade of sheet metal the ducts may be formed by corrugating the neck ofthe jar inwardly at the desired points.

When, as herein shown, the exterior surface of the neck of the jar isalso employed for the purpose of compressing the gasket, it is usuallynecessary for the accomplishment of this function alone to carry thegasket entirely below the air-duct. This, however, is not necessary forthe performance of the separable function of sealing the ductsthemselves, since it will be ordinarily sufficient for the latterpurpose alone considered to carry the compressed gasket upon the ductsfar enough to cover and seal their outer ends-in other words, havingregard merely to the location and operation of the ducts themselves itis only essential that they shall allow free communication between theinterior of the jar and the external atmosphere, either below or pastthe gasket during the exhaustingoperation, and shall be completelysealed so as to shut off that comm unication at the conclusion of thatoperation. Obviously therefore it is immaterial, so far as the functionof the ducts is concerned, and aside from the specific constructionherein shown, whether the gaskets are compressed by means of the jar, asherein shown, or even whether they are compressed simultaneously withthe sealing of the ducts, since the specific applications of thisinvention may be varied and extendedin many Ways.

A single duct if of sufficient size and suitably located will beordinarily sufficient for each jar; but in order to allow for thecontingency of a single duct being sealed during the exhaustingoperation by misplacement of the cap or for the possibility of itsbecoming stopped or clogged by the contents of the jar or by foreignsubstances it is considered preferable to provide each cap with two ormore of these ducts and to space them at substantially equal intervalsaround the jar. The area of the opening of these ducts should besufficient to allow of the free escape of the air from the jar, so as toavoid internal pressure upon the cap tending to dislocate or dislodgeit.

This invention is equally applicable to those forms of jarsin which thecap and its gasket are seated upon the interior of the mouth of the jarinstead of its exterior, as herein shown, such a construction involvingmerely a reversal of the features of this invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. A jar provided with a plurality of seats fora single gasket and having an air-duct extending from a space betweentwo of the gasket-seats for communicating with the interior of the jar,and a cap for compressing the gasket.

2. A jar, provided with an exhausting-seat and with a largersealing-seat, for the same gasket, and having an air-duct forcommunicating between the interior of the jar and the externalatmosphere between the gasket-seats, and a cap for compressing thegasket.

3. In combination with a jar provided with an exhausting-seat and with alarger sealingseat for the gasket,and having one or more airducts forcommunicating between the interior of thejar and the external atmospherebetween the gasket-seats, a cap having a seat for receiving the gasketand for moving it positively from one to the other of the gasket-seatsupon the jar.

4. In combination with a jar provided with a seat for receiving andleveling a gasket during the exhausting operation, having a largersealing-seat for the gasket, and having an airduct for communicatingbetween the interior of the jar and the external atmosphere between thegasket-seats, a cap, having a seat for receiving the gasket and formoving it positively from one to the other of its seats upon the jaracross the air-duct.

Signed by me at Hartford, Connecticut, this 15th day of August, 1899.

WILLIAM H. IIONISS.

